Two women say Trump touched them inappropriately, New York Times reports

The Times says Jessica Leeds of New York told the newspaper she encountered Trump on an airline flight three decades ago. Leeds says Trump grabbed her breasts and tried to put his hand up her skirt.

Rachel Crooks of Ohio told the newspaper she met Trump at Trump Tower in 2005. Crooks says Trump kissed her “directly on the mouth” against her will.

The Times reports both women told others about what happened with Trump.

Trump denies the accusations. He tells the Times, “None of this ever took place.”

In a phone interview on Tuesday night, a highly agitated Mr. Trump denied every one of the women’s claims.

“None of this ever took place,” said Mr. Trump, who began shouting at The Times reporter who was questioning him. He said that The Times was making up the allegations to hurt him and that he would sue the news organization if it reported them.

“You are a disgusting human being,” he told the reporter as she questioned him about the women’s claims.

Asked whether he had ever done any of the kissing or groping that he had described on the recording, Mr. Trump was once again insistent: “I don’t do it. I don’t do it. It was locker room talk.”

Trump’s presidential campaign has been reeling since the release Friday of a 2005 videotape in which he is heard talking about grabbing women’s genitals. Jason Miller, senior communications advisor, released a statement in response to the article, saying in part:

“This entire article is fiction, and for the New York Times to launch a completely false, coordinated character assassination against Mr. Trump on a topic like this is dangerous. To reach back decades in an attempt to smear Mr. Trump trivializes sexual assault, and it sets a new low for where the media is willing to go in its efforts to determine this election.

“It is absurd to think that one of the most recognizable business leaders on the planet with a strong record of empowering women in his companies would do the things alleged in this story, and for this to only become public decades later in the final month of a campaign for president should say it all.”

Left:
When reached by the New York Times reporter, Trump denied the allegations. Photo by Carlo Allegri/Reuters